Seats are currently being furnished in the marketplace, which are specifically intended for use by children in automobiles. These seats are of various kinds and many are constructed in accordance with recently enacted governmental regulations and laws, providing that children must be specially seated and restrained in automobiles when the automobiles are in motion. Such laws and regulations have been enacted in response to the recently acquired research showing that injuries received by children are quite often the result of the unrestrained motion imparted to the child when the vehicle is in an accident. It is now known that the child is frequently thrown about in the car impacting on the various doors, windows, knobs, steering wheel, and other protuberances.
The laws and regulations for children's vehicle seats prescribe several salient features thought to be most necessary. These include a secure anchor to the frame of the car, a secure guard encircling the child's upper body, and a guard to receive the impact of the child's face in the event of rapid deceleration. These special guarding features have had the disadvantage, however, that they have tended to cause production of a cumbersome seat which is awkward to handle between uses, either occupying space on the seats of the car or requiring that they be taken in and out and stored in the trunk or some other place.
The possibility of storing a child's seat within the normal built in seats of the automobile has not been overlooked in the past, and various self storing and/or convertible seats have been proposed although none have apparently met the needs of the using public. This may be because of their complicated and cumbersome nature which has made them relatively expensive.
Examples of prior art convertible child's seats for automobiles include U.S. Pat. No. 2,966,201--Strahler, showing a fold out cradle and seat combination. U.S. Pat. No. 2,436,294--Glatstein, reveals another approach to the problem.
Other patents of interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,584,481--Mast et al., 2,337,480--Logan, 3,951,450--Gambotti, and French Pat. No. 2,307,673. The above recited patents have not apparently met the needs and acceptance of the public since most seats currently in use are of the type that are removable, and are hung on the back of the seat or rest on the bench of the vehicle seat.